Racks of many different configurations are currently available in the food and beverage industry. An example of a fluid container commonly used in the food and beverage industry is the “bag-in-box” container, whereby a comestible fluid (such as a beverage, a syrup or other beverage concentrate, and the like) is contained within a bag enclosed within a box for support. A tap and pump is often employed to extract the comestible fluid from the bag. For example, a tap can be positioned toward the bottom of the bag to enable the fluid to be more completely removed from the bag via a conduit between the tap and pump. Pumps, one for each of the installed containers are mounted on the rack, for example on panels or horizontal rails one or both ends of the rack.
An exemplary rack configuration has generally horizontal front and rear rails with racks or supports extending front to back that support a container and allow the container to be slid on and off of the racks. Several racks supports are mounted side by side along the length of the front and rear rails to allow holding of multiple containers along the length of the rack. Rails with support rails are also disposed vertically a on different levels or “shelves, to allow containers to be mounted one above one another.
During installation, a container is usually mounted in an empty position on the rack, the container is tapped with an end of a conduit, and the other end of the conduit is attached to a pump, usually on either side of the rack or on a panel at the top. The conduit on its path between the container and the pump has to be supported to keep it out of other containers that have to be removed or installed. Since most racks have several containers, each with a conduit leading to a pump, it can be a problem to secure all of the conduits in an organized and easy fashion. Currently conduits are usually secured by using ratchet zip ties or wire ties to secure a conduit a structural member of the rack. Such an installation is shown in FIG. 1, which is from United States Patent Application Publication 2007/0012639. showing front rails, rear rails racks, pumps and conduits with conduits ready to be attached to a container, with ties attaching the conduits to rails on the rack.
A problem with this system is the labor required to find a suitable attachment point on the rack, to position a conduit at this point, then to find and manipulate a tie around the rack and the conduit, and to finally tighten the tie. In addition, the installed ties have one or more dangling ends. With many containers and conduits, this can be an unnecessarily long process. The ends of the ties can be left as it or cut, but in either case ends are left that tend to interfere with an installers operation and maintenance of the racks and containers. In addition, the tends to snag on skin and clothing. The ends are often cut in an attempt to minimize this the problem, but the cut end is often sharp and can more easily cut hands and arms, and tear clothing as an installer is installing the removing containers.